July 13, 2015 – Continuing its quest for the best speller in the community, the 2015 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee (www.SouthAsianSpellingBee.com) traveled to Atlanta & Charlotte this past weekend. MetLife, a leading global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management, is serving as the event’s title sponsor for the seventh consecutive year.

Atlanta was abuzz once again this year with a number of spellers participating for a shot at the finals. This year marked the first time of the platform in Charlotte where an 8 year old ended up qualifying for the finals.

“In almost every city we are seeing a majority of new talent and fresh faces which is testimony to the fact that this brain sport is close to the community. This year I’m delighted to see two 8 year olds already in the finals.” said Rahul Walia, Founder - South Asian Spelling Bee.

In the Atlanta Regional, Dev Jaiswal was the regional champ, Vishal Thakwani, was the first runners up and Lipika Narisetti, was second runner up. Thakwani resides in the country of Ghana and flew in specially to participate at the regionals.

In Charlotte, Siyona Mishra, was the regional champ and Adrija Rukmini, was first runner up while Aryan Sreshta, was second runner up.

"MetLife is pleased to serve once again as the title sponsor of the South Asian Spelling Bee competition,” said Laurel Daring, assistant vice president, Communications, MetLife Premier Client Group. “This event allows youth from across the country to test their spelling skills in a national forum and helps them gain a better understanding of how much they can achieve through hard work and dedication. For MetLife, it also underscores our commitment to serving and giving back to the South Asian community.”

Along with MetLife, food brand Kawan is the Powered by sponsor for this event and leading bakery company Britannia has come on board as the presenting sponsor. As always, SONY Entertainment Television Asia is the exclusive broadcast partner for the MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee and will be airing the series across 120 countries.

“Kawan is proud to support this platform that helps in the overall growth of the child. We look forward to seeing this year’s talent and are happy to be part of the process to find the best speller from the South Asian community," said Tim Tan, Director - International Business, Kawan Food, makers of the world’s most popular Roti Paratha Brand in the world - Kawan Paratha.

“Once again, we are proud to be associated with the Bee and are looking forward to showcasing the journey in the quest for the best speller. We look forward to yet another successful year,” said Jaideep Janakiram, Head of North America, Sony Entertainment Television-Asia.

The winners received cash prizes of $500, $300 and $200 respectively.

Children up to 14 years of age are eligible to participate and the contest saw spellers of even 6 years of age compete and make it past a few rounds. There are 10 more cities on the anvil and for more information and to register your child, please visit www.SouthAsianSpellingBee.com.

The top two winners plus one parent each from every city will be given an all expenses paid trip to NJ on August 14 for the FINALS.

SONY Entertainment Television Asia is the exclusive broadcast partner for the MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee and will be airing the series across 120 countries.

Find us on Facebook at South Asian Spelling Bee and you can follow us on our Twitter handle at Spell South Asian.

To reserve your FREE passes to the Finals, please log on to www.SouthAsianSpellingBee.com and fill in your details.

About Touchdown Media Inc.:
Touchdown Media Inc. is a specialized South Asian advertising and promotions firm based in New Jersey. Now in its 11th successful year, Touchdown has helped clients- both mainstream and otherwise, reach out to the lucrative South Asian market, Touchdown Media represents more than 35 years of collective experience in this niche market. As a full service ad firm, Touchdown has helped many clients achieve their media and marketing goals within the South Asian Diaspora in the US.

About MetLife:
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. Founded in 1868, MetLife is a global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management. Serving approximately 100 million customers, MetLife has operations in nearly 50 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.